The Day I Met You Again
by Abah
Summary: Mei and Yuzu finally have a truce between themselves, and the night sky will be the silent witness of their togetherness and a cat who expresses her emotions through nighttime memories.
1. Aihara Mei

I remember the days of my struggle letting Yuzu love me. Even I am now living in a village house with a stray cat I found on the way home from college. Still, a night without her is empty. Bland, tasteless, and I can't feel any romantic things here and there. As I looked at my ceiling and to the skies above me, it seems that even in farthest of ranges, love will always find its way to us or vice versa. Last night, Yuzu came and told me she wants to live her life here - away from the prying eyes, apart from the fakeness we had to endure. I said, yes, you can live with me, and she began to cry in happiness - it has been a long, long time since we last met and since the first and the last farewell.

We are a being that trapped in endless cycles of uncertainty called life. It depends on your actions, and when you're trying to fix it, it keeps broken and broken. Shiba, my cat, and I always enjoyed the night's skies as it was our friend of the night. Shiba loves the night's sky because she likes to look at one of the stars and purr on my lap - trying to doze off. The night sky is perfect for anything. Late night running, early morning jogging, or even a walk across the paddy field, it's all began to become my top things to do when there's nothing I can do or anything productive. Thanks to the night's sky, I am renewed. All of the problems I have with Yuzu gone after a few night walks and singing along to a song that I like most. Not that I began to forget Yuzu, of course. Her presence is strong in my mind, my heart, and my soul.

Even in the middle of the night, there is a beauty that I probably didn't care or that I miss. My raven-colored hairs might not as glowy as in the day, but sure it is a bit more dreamy in the evening. In one late night sitting, I can ask the sky everything I'd like to ask, the Milky Way, is visible on the paddy field and it was beautiful. A thing that people didn't care much for their entire life is holding a beauty that only it can share its meaning to us all. Shiba always put her head on my lap while her body rests on the back porch's wooden tiles. Back porch of this house is my favorite place to see the sky. It gave you the full view of it and kept your mind occupied with lovey-dovey stuff that you would not find it anywhere else. It's like reading a letter from your literature-approached friend, but you didn't know one or two things about it and wanted to know more.

Yuzu's dedications and commitments made it easy for the night sky to record it all. From the first day, we met and became sisters to the point where I have to let her go because an arranged marriage is coming for me. It's hard for her to know that I only left her a note instead of interpersonal hugs and kisses, and probably crying together for the best of both of us, ever since then, I could not forget and don't know how to repay her efforts to get myself on the same level as hers. One particular matter that bothers me most is when Shiba stared the northern part of the sky endlessly. She thinks that there's something on the north that she'd like to know and to inform me about it, that black cat with subtle white spots knows metaphorical stuff better than I do. Hmm, the more I think about it, the more I think of Yuzu.

There she is, sleeping on a futon. I would like to take her to the rice field, across the back porch, but what about the questions I should ask? Isn't it unusual when you don't know a single thing about feelings talking about it with someone who knows better and relates to it every day? Maybe I ask her something fundamental; I don't want to complicate things whenever you can make it simple, right? Yuzu decided to stay at my village home to recover her strength and to meet her younger sister as well - it has been three years since we last met, and sure, even the shortest farewell when mixed with feelings and metaphorical writings, you get the idea. I guess college life didn't change both of us very significantly, just a slight adjustment to feelings, emotions, and how we relate to it. I took another look at the sky above and asked. _What is it like to sleep with her under the night's sky? Wouldn't it be romantic?_


	2. Aihara Yuzu and the Milky Way

Another night sky, another day that passed. I imagine and wonder why the night is so quick while the day lasted even longer? Too much daylight could destroy our mood and feels like everything just meant for nothing. Not until I met with Mei. Again. It has been a long, long time since I met her. Three years with a pinch of longing and a spoonful of memories is sure a long time. The first days as sisters and secret lovers made me think that to love Mei is to love - well, Mei. I don't know why Mei keeps telling me about the rice field just across the house and some of the other parts of the village that she wanted to inform me. Well, I guess this is all about the night's sky? Ah, I think she began to understand why night's atmosphere is so popular amongst us. It records things that are not happening in broad daylight. With daylight, there are no stars, and there is where Mei's eyes belong. Her smile under the moonlight, under the calming, swaying winds of the night, and her silky smooth, pale skin and raven-colored hair seem like something out of a legend. She is like one of those Gods who protect Her devotees and smiling at them, no matter what or who are they, or where they came. She thinks that I am sleeping, but, even she said so, I was the one who had the sleepless nights. Whenever she puts her hands on her calves and looking up to the sky, I always wanted to sit beside her and enjoy the view while it lasts. Her coldness and boldness are just making it up for her cuteness. It's like having a grumpy black cat, but the cat loves you so much that cuddling is a daily activity. And Shiba? Things are as romantic as ever.

 _Mei Aihara_. I adored her from the deepest depths of my heart. _Why are you so cute_? I said, smiling and trying to shut my eyes, but Mei's aura won't let me do it. Ah, I guess being sisters that loved each other has its perks - I don't think I can romance her, but the skies, still, recording everything we think, we wonder, we ask, and most importantly, how we both relate to it as sisters.

The Milky Way is visible tonight, although my eyes are barely wide open, but the Milky Way soothes my soul and warms it up. Even tonight reached 11 degrees, but it feels like it was 22 or 24 degrees. As I look upon the Milky Way above me, a shooting star approached, and I whispered to myself. _Go on, Mei. What or who do you wish for tonight?_ I asked, whispering through the winds. 'I want Yuzu to be mine, and shall be mine forever.' She said, holding the golden ring I gave her three and a half years ago. I closed my eyes and began to tear up. It seems impossible at first, but to hear Mei said that wish, I could hope for the best of myself to provide her with great care and loving persona and aura from her older sister. I thought rekindling our love is _that_ hard, after that wish, the rekindling process is at a faster rate.

As the shooting star disappeared, I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep. As Mei walks in front of my futon, she crawled a little and put a death blow kiss on my forehead. 'Sleep well, dear sister. I love you.' She said as she climbs back on her futon and embraces Kumagoro to help her sleep better.

' _I love you, too_.' I whispered through the winds as the Milky Way recorded our first ever, everlasting bond. I looked heavenwards and said to myself. _Tonight is going to be the day I met you. Again, Mei, and I don't regret it._

After a while, I said. _My efforts are finally paying off. Thank you._


	3. Night Sky and Childhood

Through the night, all I see is the dim-lighted village and several other parts that I don't know. All of the creatures inhabit this part of the town has gone to sleep to wait for another sunrise. As the swaying winds moved the leaves and branches, all I can feel is peacefulness, an eternal peacefulness that I cannot have in broad daylight. I went to the back porch and accompanying Shiba. Shiba cannot sleep, even her eyes shut. She sat peacefully as her eyes moved towards the direction of where the Moon is heading, slowly. It is 09:45 in the night and I feel the night is still young, and there are a lot of things that I can do without Mei. She dozed off very quickly. I washed my face with the water I gathered from the pond, and I splashed it on me. It was cold but refreshing.

I lay beside Shiba and began to play with my feet, moving it back and forth, side to side. The stars are getting brighter and shinier; it was beyond my wildest dreams. All my worries, uncertainty, and past events eradicated when a night's sky comes. I can see my flaws, my mistakes, and the things I'd like to say to Mei - instead of falling all apart; it's all coming back in peaceful ways. During my childhood, I haven't got enough time to see the sky freely nor do I care about it. It is just a vast, blackness, and darkness that surrounded me for half of the day and I spent it on sleeping and doing the homework or group assignments. The house is getting darker as I put out the lights and shut off my eyes. It was bleak, dark, and gloomy. I can't sleep most of the times because the futon is not as comfortable as I want it to be. With Mom beside me, everything might be different, but it doesn't change how I feel about an event called nighttime. In my house, even the sky is as clear as crystal; I cannot see or observe the stars, let alone seeing a full moon.

The night sky is one of my favorites to see, but I was so terrified of it that I had to build up my courage to see it happening. As the indigo color began to emerge, with shining dots, sparkling like diamonds, I know that is a star, and it's sparking over me. I could not stop looking at them as my body is shaking from the terrifying night I had to endure. I feel shadows began to touch my body, messing my hair, and some were even trying to grab my inner consciousness - but the sky grabs me and holds me still in their arm as if I were a part of them. My eyes are sparkling through the night, and more in-depth thoughts of my consciousness began to ask things that I am not intended to ask. Why could a sky create a calming feeling for someone that had to struggle to reach someone's love?

Maybe it is just me.

Maybe I'm just overthinking. I don't know.


	4. A Night to Remember

The night sky gave me the eerie feeling of the past, the horrors of my mistakes, and the gruesome end of my choices that I have to make. The night captured it as I walk through the empty streets just before midnight. It follows me silently like a stalker, but it is more silent than I thought. One day in my childhood era, I once fear the darkest of nights, and I don't even want to go anywhere even if the neon-lights scattered along the road like a display of vegetables in the market, it's messy, but it is tidy. I feared the night would consume me; I am more than scared whenever somebody talks about the night and its silent horrors. I was a happy child and a cheerful daughter in broad daylight; then I turned into a girl that gets shaky whenever she walks the night. Living in the city made me realize that nighttime is evil and I cannot wait to jump onto my bed and cover myself with thick blankets and sleep.

As the years pass by, I become a different person, and I began to appreciate the night sky. It was dark as squid ink, and no stars were sparkling in my eyes or giving a dim-lighted light source for the night. Technology beats nature, I assume. The neon-lights, although very colorful, it's blinding my sights, and it hurts so much. As my hairs grew longer and longer, I began to shut my mouth more and concentrate. The night that I feared the most started to befriend me. The night I feared, turns into a calmer part of me. Whenever people took their quarter of holiday every five days, that is where I made those five days as a mean to ask something thought-provoking or just to daydream things in impossible situations that unlikely happened to me sooner or later. I put myself in the corner of the windowsill and leaned. I turned my head to the sky and began to admire the beauty of the dark. It was very calming, soothing, and when it's so quiet, you can hear your thoughts talking back to you - acting the same as a message repeater. I grabbed my book and began to write what's on my mind for so long and put it in an orderly manner. I asked many things about the dark and the night. Alas, the night never answers and she probably deaf to my pleas and prayers. Then, I saw the Moon. It was a full moon, and it was beautiful. I cannot fathom how captivating the roundness of it that my eyes began to sparkle with the Moon's sparklings. I write a bit more and ask more questions, then again, the sky and the moon are silent - as my prayers aren't enough for them to grant.

Now, living together with Yuzu and in a village house, the night feels different. I can see all the stars, the full moon, and the sky is a bit more purple-ish. Indigo, as Yuzu said. It was captivating, and no one would dare not to see it. It was the most peaceful night I ever imagined, and I can't believe that I had to share it with my older sister, Yuzu Aihara. We looked at the sky and spotted a meteor shower; it paints the bleak darkness with glowy, beautiful white trails that lasted for a few seconds. I feel I was living in a painting for a moment - I think someone is taking a photo of us from behind as Yuzu stroked my hair while I sleep on her lap.

It was beautifully romantic.

 _May I cherish this very moment for a bit longer, Night Sky?_


	5. An Imaginary Dance

_I can never guess the electrical outage will come so soon. The moonlight sparkled and reflected on the pond and the river just beside the back porch gives me a romantic vibe. With Mei laying beside me and use my thighs as her pillow, I can never felt so happy in my life, even we had a truce between each other after a long fight, it doesn't feel the same as I want to expect or I want to experience. Even in this large village house, our love seems to grow bit by bit again. I wonder why everything is so romantic and had that silver screen feeling whenever it's about love? Seeing my little sister sleeping on her side on my thighs was never the biggest dreams ever, but now, that I think highly and a lot of her, what would it be when we dance together on the dancefloor? Would it be awesome or plain awkward?_ _Mei never fancies a dance, but her curiosity made it easier for her to understand the graceful movement of a dancer - no matter what type of dance, she likes it. The way the dancer moves captivates her._

 _Dancing beneath a full moon with Mei is a blessing comes true. I wonder how it feels? I wonder how Mei's hands feel like when dancing? Is she going to tremble as our eyes met in a very close range as our hands locked and our bodies move to the rhythm? Or is it going to do the opposite? Who knows? We can dance, but nowhere near an obese security guard who can split right on the site, with slacks, and ends it with a salute and go back to his job. I always think that Mei is a good dancer, but with all the family burden carried on her back, I doubted she could even move so slick and graceful towards a beat of the music. But there's a lot of possibilities that we both can uncover for ourselves. The likeliest one is we both dance together._ _But then, there's another problem. With a night so silent and soothing like this, dancing is not suitable. When it comes to silence and solitude, Mei never fancies doing heavy work, such as dance, as one of the examples. She probably thinks that it's better to save up the energy and write something off our minds._

 _A series of midnight thoughts would be best, I guess. But, that's for another story._

 _For now, I could not think or said what I want, even in silence, Mei would always find a way to reply it and looking in from her perspective._


	6. Misplaced Auroras

The electrical outage still going on and the stars shine just as bright as broad daylight on the Northern Pole. It's almost midnight and the blackout that supposed to finish at 10:45 is still in repair. Maybe they're too busy looking at the sky; perhaps they are even thinking about what happened on night skies as they repair the substation of the village. As I washed my face with the fish pond's cold water, I spotted an indigo purple-ish curtain emerged from the complete blackness of the sky. The light's danced in a silent rhythm of the air as the color fades away and create another span of light. Although Mei is sleeping, I can see her amazement under her eyelids. Her eyes sparkled as the lights danced inside her eyes and mind. The wind gave us the cold, but the Light's gave us an eternal warmth for us to enjoy. The indigo purple-ish curtain began to create a sky-high river stream as the night continues its shift. As my eyes glide through its warmth and beauty, I found myself in a contemplation of my feelings. What is it like to walk across the paddy field as the Light's surrounds us in its purple warmth? What is it to walk with Mei on the dirt road across the house and slowly walked to the village center as our neck pain is getting stronger and stronger, but I couldn't care less. I don't even care anymore.

Later that night, I woke up and ask Yuzu to accompany me to the village center, where we can lend some batteries for the night as I thought that the outage will still go on until dawn. As we put on our sandals and went to the village center, My Eyes from the Skies is still dancing to the silent rhythm, changing patterns and positions and grew even more substantial than I first saw it in my sleep. Then, the color turned into a shiny, bright, cheerful yellow with a slight hint of orange, hanging above the indigo purple-ish curtain. As we walked, we stopped on a field of grass. 45 minutes before midnight, we danced and enjoyed ourselves in the grasslands. As we moved with grace and our hands locked, our sights could not care less about anything but the two of us. Our smile began to beam and lightened the mood of the night as the rhythm of the wind started to play intensively, such similarities that we can find in a musical theater. We dropped ourselves to the grass and continued watching the skies. The Milky Way, the double misplaced Aurora Borealis, and the stars began to conjoint into one as my bluesy stoner rock song started to hit the pre-chorus. I was never a fan of rock, but it was something that I could relate tonight. The feel is just amazing as I play the song on repeat and continue singing it, although I don't know what it meant or what is the real lyrics to it. And so we walked through the woods and wandered. Yuzu finally found a clearing to the north and decided to stay there for a while. I sat on the banks of the small river as Yuzu take off her clothes and began swarming the river and dropped herself in it. I couldn't help myself but smile at her silly-ness. I was lucky to have an older sister like her. I'm glad that we come up to a truce and believe ourselves that this would work out again. Just like the past. Just like the days of our high school days. Even the coldness of my aura is warm enough for the Aurora to embrace me in Her Warmth.

What would Shiba thinks of Aurora?


	7. A Walk in the Paddy Field

Along the road to the village center, the lanterns hanging on the side of the road gave an indigenous feeling of a Japanese village I've dreamt all these years. Yuzu and I hadn't had a conversation yet while enjoying the surroundings. The paddy fields and the tall trees in between each plot of land makes it feel so straight out of a storybook, and the grass fields on the left of the road make it calmer. The night I always thought would terrify me the most, turns into the most tranquil place I can ever be.

"Yuzu..."

"What is it, sister?" Yuzu smiled, the brightest one for the darkest of nights.`

"What is it like... to be left alone?" I asked while walking along the rice fields.

"Well, it's lonely. You only got yourself to accompany you throughout the day, as the time passed, no matter how much..." she sighed. "You'll always find tranquil, but then, comes the longing of a presence of a human being beside you." She continued as she picked one of the small flowers. "To have a house to yourself, it's the biggest perk, but, then, the most prominent weakness is the lack of any life - pouring down on the home you lived. When you're lonely, everything feels lonesome, too."

"I see." I nodded. I know it wasn't the best answer, but it's heartwrenching for me to hear that from my older sister, who cared a lot about us.

"So, what is it like to be left alone, Mei?" She asked the same question while honestly telling me to follow her wherever she went.

"For me, it was a hellish prison. While I can do everything on my own, particularly my studies, I found myself lacking in love and longing for a human's presence."

"The same as I am, I see." She replied while retracting her hands, mimicking the wings of a plane, letting the wind swaying her hairs and brushing her face.

"I'm glad that we had a truce. It has been hard for the both of us, right?"

"Yeah, I'm glad." Yuzu smiled and went to the main road once again.

Then we sat on the corner of the road, although it's dirty, Yuzu didn't mind. Looking at the skies and the Misplaced Auroras that seemed to stay a bit longer than it should.

"The Misplaced Auroras won't go home it seems, Mei." Yuzu said as she smiled at the Auroras.

"Let them stay here for a bit longer, sister. I think they are the sky resemblance of us." I said while sitting down beside her, watching the Aurora danced to the silent rhythm of the night.

Yuzu nodded and sighed. "Well, probably they love themselves more than we do, and staying here with us is probably the best thing."

"Is it because the absence of noise will reunite us?" I replied, quoting the song we listen earlier.

"Most likely." Yuzu nodded.


	8. A Cat's Story 1

I looked at the sky in curiosity as I tried myself to shut my eyes again while my beautiful masters are looking for something on the village center, where I used to live with Koshi, Shio, and Kyo. Three cats that guard the village center, along with a pack of dogs and their masters who carried various blunt weapons - defending the night, I assume. Four of us were the ones who break things to inform the village's guards to let them know that something weird is happening, something that straight out of a black heart, in the blackest and darkest of nights, and with black linen covering all of their faces who did it for their pleasure. I lived here with my raven-haired master; the cheerful orange called her "Mei." They are my master, but from the both of them, Mei is the one that I felt close. Although I'm a black cat with a sprinkle of white dots on my furs, Mei is the one I can relate and felt like we were both the same being, but different species. Not long after she lived in this old house, that once lived by a very wealthy man, I decided to move here.

Back then, I wasn't allowed to even sleep on the back porch, but now, I can sleep wherever I want and Mei and the Cheerful Citrus, Yuzu, didn't mind it at all. The wealthy man sucks, but not these schoolgirls who turned into college students. Before Yuzu's arrival, Mei took care of me like her sister, spending time in the dark and ask me pretty much anything. I couldn't answer her questions, for I cannot speak and I can only meow. At first, I didn't understand what the problems that she threw at me are, but as long as I lived with her in loneliness and solitude, I began to know much about her, I began to understand the questions she threw at me.

Koshi, Kyo, and Shio are busy guarding the workers who are still repairing the substation since 08:30 in the night, forcing a lot of villagers to live in darkness for a while and can only use their spare torch or candles to light up the village. Then, come to think of it, neon lights destroy everything I once loved. The calmness the candles gave me back in the day was something out of this world. As I curled up on the back porch, trying to get a dose of sleep, I began to think. Was tonight different than the other nights? What was Aurora's problem here - why'd she dare to show her beauty here? Wasn't it supposed to show her beauty either in the northern or the southern parts of the world? No matter, I probably get some sleep and pretend to didn't care that the Aurora existed in my cat world. Yuzu and Mei are two contradictory that lives together in a commensalism symbiotic relationship. One benefits the other; the other didn't get any benefits or harm at first, then gradually increasing to mutualism. They both got the benefits from each other.

When Yuzu first arrived here, Mei wouldn't talk to her every day and night. She spoke to me like I was her family's consultant while petting my head and chin area and asking a question that even a human couldn't answer it directly. Let alone a cat like me. She would ask me a lot of things as the night's getting late, and her heart cries her pain - being alone and left alone to the destiny she faced, right in front of her face. She doesn't like to left Yuzu alone, but she had to, and so the night and anything dark becomes her friend. A friend that stays forever in her hairs, in her amethyst eyes, and in her life as well. She adores the dark that the night is the time when she felt very calm and when Mei had nothing to do, her midnight thoughts began to swarm her mind like flies, and so she writes anything to relieve her pain.

I'm adopted by her as soon as she moved here and loved it since. The night's, well, it was better than the previous nights in my cat years.

Anyways, have you ever thought that a cat could express so many words?


	9. A Cat's Story 2

A cat who could express her feelings through a sequence called nighttime is rare, and a few of them probably are the elders. Youngsters like me are hard to find, yet it's intriguing to see a cat who loves night just as her human masters. Well, let's continue my story, shall we? Yuzu and Mei had a truce to prolong their relationship as stepsisters, and I remember how they tried so hard to not look at each other as the time passed by and stockade of food began to scarce in the house. I remember that one time when Yuzu has a problem with linguistics, and she couldn't ask Mei because they're still waging war in their hearts and their minds.

That truce and togetherness is just a fabrication of their loneliness. The words they utter, the feelings they show, and the eyes of a sad being - covered in a comfortable mask that seems to last forever, is lasting even longer than before. I'm curling up on the back porch as the Auroras began to show their beauty even more, more than a cat could imagine. I sat and watched the thing, and it gave me warmth through the night, and I know for a while why my masters loved their auroras so much - that the horrors of the night befriend them and become a part of them in their lives. I wish I were a human being for a while, but Gods never answer a cat's prayer, let alone granted it. Alas, what can I do, right? A cat's a cat. What is it like to have two legs and two arms, and complicated feeling that you and several other people who understand it would relate to it as well? Humans are multibranched, as far as Koshi once tell me back in the day.

From all I know, throughout my life as a cat, the dirt road in front of the house is one of the most beautiful scenery. To be honest, that wealthy man had a good taste of landscapes, although it sucks just to lay my paws in his house to only get smacked. In the darkest of nights, the dirt road resembles an empty land filled with emptiness. Even in the not windiest days of the month, the dirt road seems to bring a steady, swaying wind around it, as if it was something more or less the same as the migration route for winds.

While Mei listens to a lot of heavy rock music lately, Yuzu is the opposite. She listens to rock music, but not as heavy as Mei's. Sometimes, the cover of the original song is on her sunset walk playlist. I once listen to Yuzu's playlist in her room when the battle of silence still erupting like a volcano. She sings well, but when the feeling is empty, it's meaningless. It's nothing but a series of musicalized words with no proper grammars. One afternoon, when she went to the village center to see if she can find any food for the night, she seems to enjoy the road as it is something out of a movie. You see I don't know how a human's brain works, but sure it's more complicated than I ever thought - not even close to what Shio once said.

During the night, still on the first weeks of their togetherness after a long time separated by time and place, Yuzu would love to see the night's sky on that road. Just for fun. I remember that there's a running river that leads to the village center, it was our wellspring. Everyone drinks from the river that flow from the mountains, just behind the house. Koshi, Kyo, Shio, and I once visited the mountains and it was beautiful, it was something out of a cat's world. Maybe if we were humans, we would write something about it and share it with the world.

Alas, we can only meow and just sit, adoring the view in silence.


	10. A Cat's Story 3

When the wealthy man leaves the house for good, the Aihara family bought it for Mei and gave the deed ownership to her only, and no one can interfere with the deed. The wealthy man, as far as I know from my three other colleagues, hasn't done anything specific nor helping the folks significantly. He offers the people the availability of using advanced farming stuff and a better seed to plant during the season, he gave it for free, and the seed really works out. The village increased their productivity and lowering the cost of, literally, anything. People would buy a lot and plant a lot, then sell it and get a lot of money. When he is accused to not doing anything significant, that's an understatement. He did something, and people cannot appreciate it enough. Humans are bastard.

The wealthy man finally lets go of the house to seek another place to live his lonely life. During the day, Grandma Kyoko commented that he worked the land with her husband and tends an unkempt garden to the north of the town, he loves that garden, and no one really knows where is it, but only him and his coded map.

Before he went from that house for good, the people finally realize that he did something right and apologizing for not very appreciative.

The folks gave him a free three-month supply of produce from his seeds and wave goodbye, hoping that man would find peace and tranquillity in wherever he will find himself upon.

Later in the afternoon, just before dusk, a young girl came and open the house's doors. She has black hairs and a pair of amethyst eyes, and several other people that accompanied her. One of them was the village developer who gave the deed to the girl and wishes her an excellent stay here.

The villagers went to see the girl and gave her another free three-months supply of produce from the wealthy man's seeds. She thanked the folks and proceed to do her own business and re-decorating the house. I believe, she got herself a degree in Architecture Design and Interior Design; judging by how many mechanical pencils and dirty rulers she brought. Most of us would probably be wondering why did I know very much about the house and who comes and goes.

The house which Mei and Yuzu lived right now was not the wealthy man's house, it was owned by my old masters, Mr. Akiko Takahashi the cook, and his French-American wife, Jeanne Takahashi, previously known as Jeanne Brownstone. Mr. Akiko's wife is an architect that likes to redesign stuff, so they bought this long-abandoned house and redesign it to perfection, which many villagers back then would take a rest there while waiting for Mr. Akiko to cook them his most exquisite dishes for the villagers' standards. I once tried his pan-seared sea bass, and it was heavenly, even for a cat. The house witnesses everything, and one thing I know, the house reunited the Aihara sisters and rekindled their dying flame of love, as for now.

How about the past events? I'm not sure, but that's another story to tell. The road to the village center is a long road, another story or two would suffice to cover their way back here.


	11. A Cat's Story 4

The truth is, nobody wants to live here. I'm just making things up about my previous master. This house is long-abandoned that the folks began to say that this house is cursed. Cursed by the night and the day as if this house is meant never to exist in this village. This old house belongs to Koshi, Kyo, Shio, and I. We lived here as if we were human beings. The people gave us a lot of food for the day and night and sometimes, the thing that we don't like left on the front door and let them take it back to the village for better purposes.

When the Aihara girl came, we were happy that we finally have a master, although it's a bit saddening when the house fells into the Aihara girl, but surely we'd like to have a human company on our side. When we first met the girl, she was depressed and lost her will to live, Koshi, Kyo, and Shio surely knows that this will end up bad when we treat her wrong, too. They left and lived on the streets in the village center until she is calm. The Aihara girl needs something or someone that will cure her sadness for a while, and there's just me, sitting in front of her while grooming my furs and cleaning my paws.

Every night, just before 09:00, she wrote everything she'd like to ask the sky and every wish that the girl hopes to be granted by the Gods as I curl myself up beside her. Accompanying the lost soul that trying to live the world as she wants and find things that make her happy, she always said to herself that she wants to meet Yuzu, her older sister, who she had troubles. They have been in a relationship that crushed by an arranged marriage, and the Aihara girl hasn't said goodbye to her older sister, yet.

About the wealthy man, he left the house just weeks before the Aihara bought the house and owned the deed to the land. He left behind a garden to the north of town, two rice fields, and a handful of a variety of seeds, ready to plant at any time. A farmer said that he got another place to live somewhere out of this village and he went there for claiming his new house. I can't blame him for leaving this beautiful abode that overlooks the village center and some of the beautiful mountain ranges, and the gorgeous night sky, uninterrupted by anything. Some of the stories were true, right? He did stomp us out when he lived in that house. Stomped us like flies, says he. Anyways, I'm glad that old coot moved out and replaced by a stunning, raven-haired girl who had a truce with her sister and rekindles their love again.

Not a lot of people know him but a good farmer and steady supplier for our produce. Thanks to him, the agricultural side of this village increases for some time. Ah well, wherever he went, I hope his luck is better than here. About the food, however, we aren't worshipped as some cat gods. There are just four of us here as cats, and not so many dogs guard the street as well. We are not the place where you can find cats, sadly.

Well, that's my story. Koshi, Kyo, or Shio will tell you a lot about the house, but that's for another story.


	12. A Past and to Start Anew 1

Yuzu and I were at truce by now. We still hardly talk to each other, even when we're asking some of the people to lend us spare batteries for the night. The Auroras are still dancing to the silent rhythm of the night, although the clock shows it's 01:00 in the morning. Few hours before dawn, the repair is still going on. The substation's severely damaged as the cables was eaten by a group of mice and the repairman had to wait for another hour to get the spare cables - stronger and more reliable. An extended electrical outage is not what I wanted, but it is what makes the sky looks beautiful and lovely as ever. I dreamt of seeing the black beauty in full, with its stars, the Milky Way, and a full moon, reflecting our love. I cannot wait to lay myself on the grass fields on the far eastern part of the town. Then again, is it possible to do it? To visit the grass fields once and for all? I don't think so.

It's a long road to walk from our house to the village center, but whenever I saw Yuzu in the corner of my eyes, she knows that she loves the place and want to stay here as long as we grew older. I don't know what goes through her mind when I gave her a short letter, saying that I owned a house under my name and said that I needed her help. At first, I have hesitated that she will not ever come here. As far as I know, Yuzu loved the night like none other, and to contemplate. She would write everything on her mind as if her soul asks the sky about what should she do and how she rekindles our love. She asked a lot of questions to herself as we walked back to the house. I was worried if she cannot forget what happened between us, but whenever she smiled in the corner of my eyes, I know, she's okay and she will conquer everything - just like her younger-self, trying to get me understand better about her and us. Today - tonight marks the day I met you again. I was lucky to finally reached you. It has been a lonely night, in a desolate world, where your love lost its way there, and I have to struggle in every night I have to endure, to just not stop thinking about you. I'm glad that the day happened and I cannot wait to cherish this all together with you. Together in the rice fields, in the grass fields, and in the garden to the north of us.


End file.
